Nation remembers Cde Chitepo

43 years ago on the morning of March 18, 1975, Cde Herbert Chitepo, who was a key leader of the liberation movement, ZANU, was blown to pieces after a bomb planted underneath his car exploded outside his home in Lusaka, Zambia, leaving freedom fighters shattered to the core.

The hero who lost his life in battle will not be forgotten anytime soon.

An astute lawyer and an unapologetic nationalist chairman, Chitepo espoused visionary leadership and could articulate the national grievances to the understanding of even the most simplistic of people.

Cde Chitepo was not only learned, but very selfless and nationalistic.

Bulawayo province war veterans political commissar, Cde Molly Mpofu said stories of Cde Chitepo’s bravery, his heroism and his sacrifice must be told to generations to come.

A founder member of the National Democratic Party in 1960, Cde Chitepo was one of those who broke away from ZAPU in August 1963 to form ZANU.

Cde Chitepo decided to leave his prestigious job in Tanzania and moved to Zambia to where he devoted himself full-time to re-organising the party so that the armed struggle could begin in earnest, a symbol of his sacrifice.

The late national hero executed his role as ZANU National Chairman and leader of the Dare reChimurenga, the war council that was directing the infiltration of guerillas into Southern Rhodesia without blemish.